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by Roman Stelzl
Kitzbühel – Shortly before 8 pm at Lake Schwarzsee. Dominic Thiem begins, his lips are covered with a broad smile. The long day of training, the exhausting heat of the tennis court – all that disappears a moment from the scene. With a solid set, Thiem jumps on the side of his training partner Dennis Novak in wet cooling – and all the burden on the shoulders plunges into the depth with the 24-year-old Austrian.
16 hours later, he sits in the Kitzbühel sports park. It's Monday noon, noon, in many ways: Thiem is there. On the first day of Generali's Open, he asks questions to a crowd of journalists who eagerly listen to the words of the number one tournament. The trip to Schwarzsee is more than a memory – the reality has overtaken the Austrian tennis star.
And this reality is all about a subject: title, victory, triumph. The tournament builds all its hopes on the winner of the ATP tournament ten times. Thiem is the favorite. He should not only win a lot here, but also bring to his country the first triumph of Kitzbühel after Thomas Muster in 1993. Everything else would be almost a disappointment.
"The print is still a little more important at home, but I'm used to that," said the finalist of the Open de France in 20 minutes, he faces questions of journalists, and Thiem adds a phrase that everyone wants to hear: "The goal is to win the tournament.Only Thiem seems to be between wanting to be.Play the number eight in the world at its best, the opponents can s & # 39, dress warmly despite the heat (more than 40 degrees on the central court).
But the question is: how good is Thiem suited? Last week in Hamburg came out unexpectedly in the quarterfinals . "I'm fine. I have been able to train very well at Bichlhof and I am happy to be here, "says 2014 Kitz finalist. Hamburg's training was bitter, but put down:" The match was really bad, I should have won it I usually play well, I'm fit. "
Kitz's last victory in August 2015 was 1091. In 2016, surprisingly against Jürgen Melzer at the end, last year, Thiem had preferred the American tournament in Washington." Little success. " I tried it because I played badly in North America in previous years, "says Thiem, who wants to keep his loyalty to Kitzbühel in the future:" When I play, he will probably be here. "
Tomorrow's opponent will be a tough guy: either the Styrian Sebastian Ofner waits, who arrives at Challengers with five wins and was in the semifinals last year." Or Martin Klizan, the Slovak , newly motivated and best clay player Both play Tuesday (not before 5pm) for the knockout stages
Before that, Thiem played in a doubles match with Dennis Novak, with whom he reached the final in 2016 and so is one of the (co) favorites.The two should have ap bring to the Schwarzsee the necessary cooling. It would be important. Because from Tuesday, not only the tennis fever in Kitzbühel rages. But also the fever of Thiem.
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